Wrong Info Coming Out Of 1-800-MEDICARE

[Joe Moore]

Who else has had similar problems with wrong info coming out of 1-800-MEDICARE?

We had a interesting situation in our office yesterday afternoon. One of my sons had placed a Full Dual Eligible (Medicare and Medicaid) client in a MAPD PFFS -0- premium plan about 10 days ago.

In Tennessee, Medicaid (TennCare) pays Full Duals copays left by the plan. So it can be a better deal for the client with limited Hearing, Dental and Vision Benefits and some more minor bells and whistles from the plan. The client would of course still pay the lowered drug copays, as with any Part-D plan. There have not been any provider issues with this plan in our area.

This client had called Medicare and was told by some Medicare genius that she had been "taken out of Medicare" and did not at all need to be in this plan. So, this genius "fixed it". He took her out of the plan my son had placed her in, and moved her to another company (I guess the company of his choice). He also sent word by the client to my son that we did not need to do anything, because he had "fixed the problem".

Although we hear this phrase often coming out of doctor's offices, this is the first time I have heard the "taken out of Medicare" statement actually coming out of Medicare. If an agent had made this wrong statement, he/she would probably bring the wrath of CMS on them.

Of course this "expert" on the other end of the phone was right, and my son was the villain--just another dumb greedy insurance agent in the client's view.

Does anyone have a clue what type of training the 1-800-MEDICARE phone folks have to go through? Seems with some of them, the training and knowledge is very lacking. Any similar stories out there?

 

[midwestbroker]

Medicare Help Line Falls Short, GAO Finds

Basically states that if you call 1-800 Medicare, you have a 29% chance of getting the wrong answer and another 10% of getting no answer at all.

There have been newer reports saying that it has improved...BUT...

I called 1-800Medicare a few months ago saying that my father is aging into Medicare and I was researching Part D plans. Got the wrong info over the phone. They said the gap was different for each plan.

Most people I talk to who have called Medicare were not pleased.

 

[retread]

Who else has had similar problems with wrong info coming out of 1-800-MEDICARE?

We had a interesting situation in our office yesterday afternoon. One of my sons had placed a Full Dual Eligible (Medicare and Medicaid) client in a MAPD PFFS -0- premium plan about 10 days ago.

In Tennessee, Medicaid (TennCare) pays Full Duals copays left by the plan. So it can be a better deal for the client with limited Hearing, Dental and Vision Benefits and some more minor bells and whistles from the plan. The client would of course still pay the lowered drug copays, as with any Part-D plan. There have not been any provider issues with this plan in our area.

This client had called Medicare and was told by some Medicare genius that she had been "taken out of Medicare" and did not at all need to be in this plan. So, this genius "fixed it". He took her out of the plan my son had placed her in, and moved her to another company (I guess the company of his choice). He also sent word by the client to my son that we did not need to do anything, because he had "fixed the problem".

Although we hear this phrase often coming out of doctor's offices, this is the first time I have heard the "taken out of Medicare" statement actually coming out of Medicare. If an agent had made this wrong statement, he/she would probably bring the wrath of CMS on them.

Of course this "expert" on the other end of the phone was right, and my son was the villain--just another dumb greedy insurance agent in the client's view.

Does anyone have a clue what type of training the 1-800-MEDICARE phone folks have to go through? Seems with some of them, the training and knowledge is very lacking. Any similar stories out there?

Joe... it is time we start holding Medicare accountable for their unethical behavior. Please call your congressman and complain about this. You have a classic case of "churning" on the part of Medicare!

 

[jdeasy]

Happens all the time, Joe. I've had a Medicare rep tell a person the very same thing. The problem for the agent is that, once Medicare has planted that seed, it's almost impossible for you keep the fruit from growing.

 

[G.Gordon]

Yep... there are a bunch of $6/hour morons that make our lives hell on the other end of that number. I can't tell you how many times I've had to "teach" the "benefits specialist" about beneficiary Rights and Protections concerning a SEP for exiting MA plans within the first 12 months.

I've actually had to have them READ the rights and protections one by one until they got to the applicable one and then say... "That's it!!!" "That's the one I'm talking about." One actually still wanted to argue with me... I hung up, called back, and started over and got what I wanted.

 

[Josh]

Usually the only thing I'll use Medicare for is to verify eligibility and effective dates. I don't know what they make, but my biggest challenge with them is they don't seem to care about the agent or the member.

 

[MedSuppPro]

1-800Medicare is a 3rd party contracted entity just like agents are 3rd party contracted entities.

The only difference is the 1-800Medicare people didn't wake-up on the 24th of December to find out their contract had been retroactively re-revised downward for the third time in as many months.

Nobody in any of the Federal CMS government offices has received a retroactive pay decrease.

What a joke!

 

[Newby]

This happened to me yesterday!

I had a lady who had her letter that she was approved for Medicare A & B. The letter had her effective date (she's under 65 on disability) and the claim number was her SS# with HA at the end of it. I'd never seen an HA and since it was December 31st I wanted to call and verify.

Luckily I had her on speaker phone so the client could witness how lame the Medicare employee was. I asked if her Medicare number really ends in HA or if it is just A and the genious told me "it's just A. They all are the SS# with an "A" at the end.

I actually had to insist that she look this one up in the system to verify. It was news to her that some people have other letters besides "A" and some even have a spouse's SS#

 

[stormtracker]

It's not only Medicare that is giving out ridiculious information. I've had home health providers, pharmacists, etc..., tell my customers that they either didn't need, or shouldn't have changed to, a plan that I wrote for them. To my knowledge, none of these trusted professionals were LICENSED to render such an opinion. It amazes me that CMS chases licensed agents to no ends, but ignores laymen who are out there advising seniors in insurance matters. How is it acceptable, or even legal, for a pharmacist to advise seniors on part D options??? God help me for the wrath I'd receive if I advised a senior on prescription drug choices...

 

[jdeasy]

This happened to me yesterday!

I had a lady who had her letter that she was approved for Medicare A & B. The letter had her effective date (she's under 65 on disability) and the claim number was her SS# with HA at the end of it. I'd never seen an HA and since it was December 31st I wanted to call and verify.

Luckily I had her on speaker phone so the client could witness how lame the Medicare employee was. I asked if her Medicare number really ends in HA or if it is just A and the genious told me "it's just A. They all are the SS# with an "A" at the end.

I actually had to insist that she look this one up in the system to verify. It was news to her that some people have other letters besides "A" and some even have a spouse's SS#

There is an HA desgnation. I ran into another one I had never seen before recently. I can't remember what it was, but, it was two letters at the end on the card.